World Made Flesh
by LochlynParker
Summary: Mike/Toby, Wren/Ezra slash. The secrets they keep are threatening to burst to the surface when a body is found at the Rosewood end of summer Festival. Can Wren and Toby save their relationships in the face of a new threat to the men of Rosewood? (Note - no A, but a similar villain does emerge.) Rated M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**World Made Flesh**

**Chapter One: The Secrets We Keep**

Summer was just starting to wane in Rosewood, and as Mike leaned against the tree a soft breeze ruffled the leaves overhead. His boyfriend, Toby, came up beside him. "Hey babe," he said, kissing Mike on the cheek. "Why'd you want to meet out here?"

They both gazed across the small clearing in the woods. "My parents are home, and I was getting a little bored of your place," Mike said with a seductive smile.

Toby cocked an eyebrow. "Is that how it's going to be?" He turned to face his boyfriend. "Interesting choice of scenery."

"You know what I like to see?" Mike slid a hand under the hem of Toby's shirt, pulling it up just enough to reveal the first few abs on his stomach. The older teen pushed Mike's hands down, then pressed him into the tree for a deep kiss.

Mike's phone buzzed in his pocket, and he tensed. Nervousness crept into him as he prayed that Toby wouldn't notice, or ask him to go ahead and check it. Toby had a habit of resting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder and watching him text – normally it was endearing and adorable, but lately Mike had been receiving some texts he knew Toby could never know about. He thought about what this message said, maybe something like, _I need you now_, or, _How about last night? I didn't know you were that flexible_. This was a secret he had been keeping for a little over a month, ever since the Fourth of July celebration at the fairgrounds.

Mercifully, Toby either took no notice or decided not to mention it, being too preoccupied with running his hands under Mike's shirt. "What place looks nice? Right here against the tree, maybe over there," he pointed to the center of the clearing, "where we can be out in the sun?"

Pushing his thoughts about the phone aside, Mike took in the incredible view of Toby stripping off his shirt, watching the muscles and sinew ripple beneath his skin. One hand slid down to his pants as Toby kicked off his shoes.

Mike bit his lip and tackled Toby to the ground as he bounced on one foot in an attempt to take off his jeans. They crashed to the grass in a confusion of limbs and flesh, Toby giggling as their mouths found each other again.

"I love you," Toby muttered into Mike's ear. This wasn't the first time he'd said it, but somehow it sounded more desperate than normal. Mike had never returned the phrase, but they had talked it over before and Toby knew he was just not as ready to be so free with his emotions.

"You take my breath away," Mike responded. It sounded cheesy and cliché, but he meant it. Deep down maybe he did love Toby, but something didn't fit exactly the way it should in his heart. Maybe that's why he still couldn't totally shake the feeling that maybe it was _his_ text, waiting to be read in his pocket.

They searched the surrounding trees once more just to make sure they were completely alone. "Look up there," Mike said.

Toby craned his neck back and looked up to find a squirrel sitting on the edge of a branch, gawking down at them. "Well, I hope he likes the show," Toby said with a mischievous smile, and the two of them went back to groping and kissing.

* * *

Ezra shifted nervously from foot to foot. He watched Wren sit in an angry silence, dreading the conversation he knew was coming. Once again Wren was going to ask him to take their relationship public, and once again Ezra will put his foot down and say no. He understood that Wren wanted to be open with their feelings for each other, and he wanted the same thing, but what Wren did not understand is the reaction Ezra's mother would have to the news.

"But you've seen them around town, Ezra. Everyone loves them together." He was referring to Mike and Toby, spotted walking around town hand in hand. "And they're just teenagers," he added. "We're grown adults, we can live the life we choose."

"You know I can't just come out to my mother like that. You've never met her. This is a situation we have to handle delicately." The words felt robotic dropping from his mouth – not the first time Wren had taken this approach.

"I'd like to meet her."

"Yeah, let me call her up and say, 'Hey mom, please come out for brunch with me and the man I've been fucking.' She'd love that," Ezra said, his voice dripping sarcasm. He bent to pick up his briefcase from the couch. "I don't really have time for this right now, I have an interview to get to."

"It feels like you are pushing me away."

"That's not what I 'm doing," Ezra placed his hands on either side of Wren's face and gave him a quick kiss on his forehead. "I just can't think about that added stress when I still haven't been able to find a job. One problem at a time."

Wren rose to walk him to the door. "Can we maybe go on an actual date, at least?"

"Maybe we can head into the city sometime soon. We just have to keep a low profile for now. Trust me, it's for the best."

"Fine. Remember, I won't be here when you get back. I have the overnight shift at the hospital tonight."

"OK. Have a good night then," Ezra said and headed out the door. "And please remember to lock up when you leave."

Wren went back to the couch, wondering why he was sticking around in this relationship. He looked around Ezra's apartment, slowly taking in all the paraphernalia of his boyfriend's life. The reason was simple – he loved Ezra. Ezra made him happy in a way no one else had, not Spencer or Melissa, definitely. Being with him just seemed so much easier than all his past relationships, they fit together like jigsaw pieces.

His phone rang on the table. He knew this was coming, and had been dreading it all day. This call came every night he worked at the hospital, when the skeleton staff made certain things easier.

"Wesley," he said as a way of greeting. Pleasantries didn't apply to these talks.

"Hey buddy," came the dopey sounding voice on the other end of the phone. "I'm going to need a refill, and I was hoping for a little bit more this time."

"I can't keep doing this. You know I will get fired." He meant to take a stand, but it always fell through the cracks. While he had the same exchange about coming out with Ezra, he had another repetitive conversation with his younger brother.

"You know what will happen if you don't help me out. Ezra wants to keep the two of you a secret from our mother, and if you don't do this for me, I will leave a little note for her with your signature at the bottom. How do you think Ezra will take that?"

"Fine, but this is the last time, I swear."

"We'll see about that. Meet me at our spot, around seven tomorrow morning?"

Wren clicked off the phone and threw it at the couch. It might not seem like much, going behind Ezra's back to rat the two of them out to their mother, but Wren knew the implications would be, at the least, losing Ezra. He wasn't willing to lose what no one knew they had, especially when it was such a beautiful thing.

He gathered up his keys and other miscellany before heading to the door. If he didn't get Ezra to agree to go public with their relationship, Wesley would continue to blackmail him, and if that kept escalating at the rate they've been going, he and Ezra both would be out of a job. He needed to spend the night thinking about what he could possibly say to Ezra to get him to open up to his family. It was going to be a rough night.

* * *

Mike fell into bed exhausted. After the tumble in the grass with Toby, he came home to an empty house. Who knew what Aria was up to, and his dad had gone out on a date. He wasn't completely certain how he felt yet about his parent's divorce and their re-entry into the dating world, but he was starting to come around to the idea.

He closed his eyes and thought he heard a scratching at the window. Putting it off as a tree branch moved by the wind, he turned his back to the window and snuggled into his comforter.

When the window began sliding open, he threw back the covers and jumped up from the bed. A dark form was sliding across the sill and into the bedroom. "What the hell?" Mike shouted at it, reaching for his lacrosse stick by the door.

Just as he was raising it to attack, he heard Noel say, "Whoa dude, hold on!" His hands raised to protect his face.

"Noel?"

The older boy grabbed the lacrosse stick, pushing it to the side before wrenching it free from Mike's grasp, sending it clattering to the floor. He then proceeded to pick Mike off the floor and chucked him onto the bed, bouncing on top of him.

Mike, instantly aroused, gave into Noel's impressive biceps pinning him to the bed, and his lips pressing into his neck. He had ignored Noel's text earlier because he wanted to really be able to give himself fully to Toby, but here and now he was reminded why he was still unable to do it. Yeah, Noel can be a dick, but he was a much rougher lover than Toby allowed himself to be, and gave Mike deeper levels of exhilaration.

He settled into their old routine, simmering in a wave of ecstasy. He wanted the world to make sense to him, but found those thoughts floating along his periphery, completely lost in the moment.


	2. Chapter 2: Jagged Little Pill

**Chapter Two: Jagged Little Pill**

Noel snuck back out of Mike's window around dawn. He made his way down the side of the house, remembering the night he had had with Mike. Their bodies played together flawlessly, intertwining and extracting themselves from their shadows, dancing behind them on the wall. Though he hated admitting it, he had certain growing feelings for the younger teen. Struggle as he might to push them down and bottle them up, they always managed to bubble back up to the surface. But no one at school could know that he had these feelings for another boy. It would destroy his reputation. And besides, it would completely destroy his relationship with Jenna. He had witnessed the price first hand of keeping secrets from her.

There was magnetism to Mike Montgomery, however. When he flashes his toothy grin at Noel, his insides melt. He began walking along the roadside, taking in the fresh morning air and the silence that accompanied this time of day – a strange tranquility blanket over the normally tumultuous Rosewood. How this town had spun so far out of control he couldn't say, but he knew that it wasn't his place to correct it.

He toyed with the cell phone in his pocket, at first wanting to send Mike something dirty for him to wake up to. Then he visualized Mike snuggled deep within his blankets, one arm curled under his pillow, and decided he shouldn't disturb him.

One person would be awake, however. He unlocked the screen and started typing. After a few minutes he received a message that just said, "The men's room at the Brew. 8."

Speedy delivery, he thought. Today is already shaping up to be amazing. He gave a nod to the sun, just now cresting the buildings of downtown, and his signature smile broke out across his face. Now, how to spend the next two hours?

* * *

Wren got off work, the pockets on his lab coat sagging more than usual. Luckily for him, his reputation was clean as it could get around the hospital, so no one gave him a second glance as he slipped out a side door and took the longer walk around the building to the parking lot. Checking his watch, he knew he was going to be late meeting Wesley, and Wesley did not exactly love being kept waiting.

Ducking into his car, he double checked the mostly vacant parking lot before emptying the contents of his pockets into the glove box. He quickly maneuvered the car out of the parking lot and sped down the highway.

Wesley was waiting for him at their usual rendezvous point, and Wren could see the agitation plainly from a quarter mile down the road. Their spot was a deserted stretch of unused highway, beneath a gigantic willow tree. Wesley disappeared beneath the branches as Wren pulled his car to a stop.

Knowing he incurred Wesley's anger with each passing moment he sat in the vehicle, but he held back for a moment. What would Ezra think about this? He wondered. How horrible would I look to him if he knew what I was doing out here with his little brother? He hoped Ezra's interview had gone well, but neither had texted during the course of the night. Wren was still upset about Ezra shutting him down about taking their relationship to a better level, and he assumed Ezra was upset about Wren's near constant pressure.

Parting the curtain of leaves, he saw Wesley standing near the base of the tree, his arms crossed over his chest. "About goddamned time," he murmured.

"I have a job, sometimes I get caught up in it." Wren said as evenly as he could muster. "Maybe it's something you can try someday."

"I like how you act as if you had any of the power here. Remember, I have the power to undo your precious little relationship with my queer brother. Now, hand it over, I have clients already waiting for this shit."

As Wren handed the drugs to the younger man, he reflected on how the two had first met. It was in passing, when Wren had seen Ezra at the market, but at that point, Wesley seemed like a sweet, genuine younger brother. How could Wren have known what horrid demeanor lurked beneath the façade of that smiling face with the wide eyes? And how, since then, have things turned so dark, gotten so off course from what Wren wanted his life to be. The only thing that managed to balance the scales was Ezra, and already Wren felt him slipping away from him, however slightly.

"Here," he said, handing the bottles over. "We're going to have to revisit our arrangement at some point. I can't keep doing this without losing my job. I've already committed several felonies by 'helping' you out this way."

"Well, that's the question, isn't it?" Wesley asked, placing all but one of the bottles in various pockets on his jacket. The last he tossed from hand to hand, somehow managing to make the process threatening as he took a few steps towards the doctor. "You can either be successful at your job, or you can have the happy home life. It looks like you're going to have a choice to make, because I have the ability now to end all of it for you. Remember that before you try making another threat."

He shoved Wren with a shoulder and pushed his way out of the willow tree. Wren heard his car start and pull off down the road.

Wren sat down among the fallen leaves, feeling the crinkle beneath his legs. He placed his head in his hands, wondered what he'd done so wrong to deserve all of this, and began to cry. After about twenty minutes, he stood up, brushed himself off, and prepared himself to face Ezra.

* * *

Mike woke up with that fuzzy feeling one gets after a night of amazing, spontaneous, completely satisfying sex. He basked in the few slats of morning sunlight that fell through his blinds for a few minutes before he heard the muffled sounds of people having a very heated debate. His mother never came by the house anymore, so he doubted it was her having it out for whatever reason with his dad, which left Aria. And she could be shouting about something with just about anyone from town. His sister had an in with everyone around Rosewood, it seemed.

Curious, he rose from the bed and pulled on a pair of boxer briefs. Tilting his head, he followed the echoed whispers, and found they were coming from Aria's room. This could be good, he thought. With school still a few weeks away, he could stand a little excitement from his sister.

Sneaking out into the hallway, Mike moved down towards Aria's room. Hopefully his father was at the university already, preparing syllabi for the upcoming semester, and wouldn't catch Mike spying on his sister. His father already had some cause for alarm when it came to this kind of behavior from Mike, and he really didn't want any sort of punishment being brought down on him. The only thing that could be taken away from his at this point was lacrosse, and he'd be damned before letting that happen.

Still, the urge to pry into the lives of others pulled him closer to her door, and he thought he could now recognize the second voice. It definitely sounded like Mr. Fitz.

He pressed his ear up to the door and heard Aria say, "I don't know Ezra, maybe you should ask Emily about this."

"Emily?"

"She went through the same thing with her mom, sort of. Of course, her mom is way more compassionate, and, ya know, warm blooded than yours is."

What the hell? Mike thought.

"I really shouldn't even be telling you about any of this," Ezra continued. "It's just that I had to tell someone and you are the person I trust most right now to keep a secret."

"Listen, it's not like it's less appropriate than our relationship was. You're both grown men now, you should be able to love who you want. Look at Mike."

At me? Mike pressed his ear harder against the door. Was Mr. Fitz dating a man from around town? He grinned. This guy just couldn't keep the scandal away, could he? He knew that he had no room to talk, given his current situation, but it was interesting nonetheless. Momentarily forgetting about Toby and Noel, he allowed himself to wonder what it might be like to be with Mr. Fitz. He totally understood Aria's attraction to him.

Movement on the other side of the door forced Mike to jump back a little too abruptly. He banged against the wall on the far side of the hallway when he saw the knob turning on the door. As quietly and swiftly as he could, he maneuvered a few steps down the hall, feigning a yawn and acting like he was just on his way to the bathroom, when Aria poked her head out.

"Mike!" she squeaked in that desperate voice she dons occasionally. "What are you doing out here?"

"Going to shower," he said. "Why, you've got someone in there?"

"No!" she said too fast, and Mike knew he would have caught the lie even if he wasn't sure Ezra was hiding behind the door. Come on, he thought, I can see you between the hinges. "No one in here. Why don't you get on with that shower?"

The door slammed shut.

Whatever, Mike thought. None of my business, I guess. He decided that since he'd rather not be caught in a lie, he would go ahead and take that shower. The water heated up the bathroom, steaming up the mirror, and while he lathered up his body he considered the options for Mr. Fitz's mystery man.

* * *

Noel arrived right on time at The Brew. Dodging the glares of the baristas behind the counter – even Emily Fields, who's stare was a little more icy than the rest – he made his way to the bathrooms. Why she cared about him dating Jenna he may never know, or care. That whole clique had been giving him the evil eye since that party at his parent's cabin, and he was over it. Their opinions of who he chose to socialize with didn't affect him in the slightest. Plus, he'd been fucking Aria's brother for over a month, and he had that secret over all of them. What would they think about that?

Pushing the door open, he searched the room for anyone he wasn't expecting. Finding the coast to be clear, he went to the last stall and rapped on the metal door with one hand while digging in his pocket with the other, grabbing at the wadded bills tucked away in there.

The stall door opened inward, revealing Wesley. They didn't speak a word. Noel handed over the cash, took the small plastic bag Wesley handed him, gave a quick nod, and turned away.


	3. Chapter 3: Walking on Broken Glass

**Chapter Three: Walking On Broken Glass**

The apartment was empty when Wren slid his key in the lock. He wondered where Ezra was, then decided that it was probably better not to know. If he was still upset about last night, hopefully he was out blowing off some steam, giving Wren the chance for some rest before they got into their argument again. He didn't want to stress his boyfriend out, but at the same time he could not handle this arrangement with Wesley anymore. Something had to give, and he'd rather take the path that would ultimately strengthen their relationship.

He started a pot of coffee and changed out of his scrubs as the drip plinked down into the glass. When he emerged from the bathroom, dressed only in a pair of pajama bottoms, he saw Ezra taking down two cups and getting their cream and sugar situated.

"Morning," Ezra said, extending Wren's cup to him.

Taking it, he blew on the cup and took a tentative sip. "Morning. Listen, Ez…"

"Please, don't Wren. I'm sorry about everything I said yesterday. Really, I am." He walked over to his boyfriend and gave him a coffee-flavored kiss. "And I do want to tell people about us, I do. I want to shout it from rooftops and all the gushy romantic nonsense. And we will."

"We will?" Wren asked, feeling elated. Was this nightmare going to end at last?

"Just not yet. The interview went really well yesterday. If I get the job, once I get settled in over there I promise we can go public. I just have to be completely able to support myself without my mother's money hanging over everything I do."

Wren tensed a little, but let out a sigh of relief. "I just want us to be happy. I don't want to lose you."

Ezra gave him a strange look. "Why would you lose me?"

"Nothing," Wren said. "Don't worry about it." He set his cup on the counter and gave Ezra a lingering hug. "I need to get some rest. It was a long night."

"Sure, of course."

Ezra went back to his coffee and Wren headed over to the bed. He slid beneath the sheets and Ezra came over. "Hey," he said, kneeling down beside the bed. "I'm going to head out for a while, to let you have some peace and quiet while you're resting. Wesley called and said he wanted to meet up for lunch, so I'll be back later this afternoon."

"Sounds good," Wren murmured, rolling over so Ezra couldn't see the look that darkened his face. He didn't want his boyfriend alone with Wesley, but if anyone knew how to deal with him, it would be his brother. Maybe he would notice something in Wesley's behavior that could point to his under the table activities.

That didn't seem likely, however much Wren would love to see it happen. Sleep hovered behind his eyelids, and he wanted nothing more than to have this long, seemingly endless night come to a close. His phone buzzed on the nightstand but he ignored it. The thought that haunted his entrance into the realm of dreams wasn't about Wesley, or Ezra, but the look on their mother's face when they finally come clean about their relationship.

* * *

Toby was out at the Rosewood Fairgrounds, helping set up for the end of summer festival. It was supposed to start tonight, and they all had a lot of work to do. Spencer was busy delegating tasks to the underclassmen while Hannah somehow managed to look busy sipping lemonade in the shade of a booth. Toby had his shirt tied around his waist, sweat making his muscles glisten in the glare of the afternoon sunlight. He noticed most of the girls around checking him out, and several of the surrounding boys, but he was able to put those leers away. His heart was reserved for Mike.

Considering his previous work experience, setting up the booths along the fairway was a nice, brainless task. He'd gone through so much the last couple years with his sister, and Spencer, not to mention A, that everything with Mike seemed to be what he thought Heaven must feel like. Since he had shown the world that he and Mike were a happy couple in a great, open relationship, A had been radio silent as far as he was concerned.

He wondered what Mike would think if he knew everything about A, how she (or he) had acted like a wicked puppet master of the lives of the people in their lives. He loved that Mike was innocent in that regard, but he also knew how secrets could destroy everything. He might not ever gotten together with Mike had A not ripped him from Spencer.

"How's it going over here?"

Looking up, he saw Spencer striding towards him, clipboard in hand. She was ticking off items on it, barely letting her eyes flicker over the metal clip in his direction. He knew she was harboring some resentment over everything that had transpired between them, and who was he to blame her? He had done some pretty wicked things to her, things no amount of atonement could abate.

"A few more booths and we're set to go," Toby said, pausing long enough to wipe sweat from his forehead. He pointed down to the far side – a wasted effort since Spencer kept her nose buried in the clipboard. "Vendors are already starting to set up by the entrance. We should have plenty of time to open at seven, as scheduled."

"Great, that's great." She turned to walk away.

"Spencer, wait," Toby said, but it was a useless attempt. She was already gone.

Sighing, he went back to working, doing his best to push thoughts of Spencer to that dark place inside of him. About an hour later, he felt a hand slide across his back. Turning, he saw Mike, holding a large, ice cold lemonade, and a brown bag. "Lunch break? Tuna salad sandwich!" He said, jiggling the bag.

"Oh man, I'm starved," Toby said accepting the bag gratefully. They moved to a nice place in the shade and sat down. Unwrapping the sandwich, he extended one half to Mike, who waved it off, saying he'd already eaten.

"So, how are things going here?" Mike said, eyeing the fairgrounds.

"Fine, I should be done in an hour or two, then I just need to get home for a shower and I can meet you here for the opening."

"Meet me here?" Mike said with a devilish glint to his eye. "I can't help you shower?"

Toby smiled at him. "I was actually planning on making it a bath. And I could use the rest because I have some serious plans for us after the fireworks."

Mike pouted, but allowed it, under one condition. "Promise me one thing, though. We watch the fireworks from the Ferris Wheel. I've always wanted to make out a hundred feet up."

"That's a deal," Toby said, finishing up the sandwich and crumbling the bag up into a ball. "And thanks for lunch, but I really have to get back to work." He stood up and walked over to Mike, kissing him on the forehead. "And wear something sexy tonight, huh?"

"Maybe I should borrow something from Aria. I know how you like their fashions," he kidded.

"Very funny." Toby pulled Mike to his feet and the two hugged. Mike breathed in his boyfriend's scent and briefly considered pulling Toby over to the concessions booth for a little heavy petting, but knew Toby was always focused on his work, and it would be a futile attempt to drag him away from it.

"I guess I'll let you get back to it," Mike said, kissing him again and letting his lips trail down to Toby's jaw line, barely hovering over his skin. He sensed Toby shiver beneath him.

"You love doing that to me, don't you? Tease."

"Just think of it as a preview for tonight's show."

Mike walked off and Toby returned to the booth he was working on. As he grabbed the steel crossbeams from the ground and searched around for the pegs to keep them in place he caught Spencer staring at him from across the way. The moment their eyes met she found something else to ogle, which led to her shouting orders at the group of girls scattered around her, causing them to scatter further.

Trying his best to ignore her, he told himself to push those feelings down again. One day they were going to have to reconcile their feelings, but he knew that was going to have to happen on her terms. If there was one thing he knew absolutely about Spencer Hastings, it was that she had to have control of any situation.

This wasn't what he wanted to be thinking about, so instead he shifted his thoughts to Mike, and the plans he had made for after the festival. He had lied about taking a bath – he was really just taking a quick, cold shower. Then he was setting up the crock pot with some amazing chicken recipe he found and pop a bottle of wine in the vegetable crisper drawer to get it nice and cool. He wanted to break out the candles he had been hiding at the bottom of his closet and arrange them on both the table and the bedroom, finalize the iTunes playlist for the evening, and make sure everything else was perfect. There was only a short time left before school started back, and he wanted to give Mike an ending to this summer that he would never forget.

Just thinking about what he had in store for after dinner gave him half an erection. Maybe this isn't the best topic for now, he thought, and turned back to setting up the booth. He couldn't wait for tonight, it was going to be romantic and epic, two things he knew everything about.

* * *

After an uneventful lunch with Wesley, Ezra decided to swing by The Brew for some coffee, just to kill time before heading home and inevitably waking up Wren. He had a book with him, and ducked inside, happy to be out of the intense August sun.

Placing his order, he moved to a back corner of the shop and began nursing his coffee. Luke-warm coffee didn't bother him, and he wanted Wren to have as much time to sleep as he could. Sleep-deprived Wren was definitely less sexy than fully rested Wren. That, and Ezra planned on having some pretty amazing make-up sex with him before dragging him to the festival. He also checked his phone about every ten minutes or so to see if he had by some miracle missed a call from the community college he had interviewed for. It was a small school on the outskirts of Pittsburg, but the pay was decent enough for him to be able to separate himself from his family entirely.

He didn't notice the figure standing at the end of the table until he heard, "Ezra Fitz, right?"

Jerking his head up, he saw Jason DiLaurentis. "Yeah…" he said cautiously. He assumed that they both just knew each other the way people do in a small town, especially with the scandal that has surrounded them both over the past year. What would Jason want with him? Ezra was also used to, by this point, getting confronted about his relationship with Aria by those people who were close with her. While he held hopes that their break up would quell these encounters, he knew it would take a little while before they petered out totally.

"Are you going to the festival opening tonight?"

It was an awkward question, for several reasons. One, why would he care whether Ezra attended the festival at all? He also suspected a tone beneath the question, one that was almost flirtatious. Was it possible that Jason was trying to, in some small way, ask him out? As far as Ezra knew, no one except Aria knew about his turn in dating habits, and even if Aria had told, which he refused to believe, he had only let her in on his secret in the last couple hours – even in a town the size of Rosewood, the gossip train wasn't that fast. "I was planning on stopping by with some friends," he said carefully. What little he had gleaned about the habits of A from Aria, he had learned to exercise extreme caution in every aspect of his daily life. Add that to the list of reasons I was wary about coming out about Wren to my mother, he thought.

"Cool, cool. Maybe I'll see you around?" Jason leaned over the table, coming uncomfortably close to Ezra. "Hmm, smells good," he said, taking a whiff of Ezra's open cup of coffee.

"Yeah, maybe, Jason."

"So you do know who I am?" Jason was only mildly fazed by this information. Before leaning back to a full stand, he muttered something that Ezra swore sounded like, "That's pretty sexy."

Giving Ezra a coy look, Jason turned around and headed back for the doors. It took Ezra a minute to realize that he had not purchased anything while in the shop, and a little while longer to figure out that Jason could not have possibly seen him from the windows that lined the side of the shop facing the street.

"What was that about?" he asked himself, before Emily sauntered over to his table to ask if there was anything else he needed. He told her that he was fine, and went back to his book with only a slight feeling of unease about his brief conversation with Jason. People were doing weird things all over town, it seemed, so he just decided to add this to the ever-growing list of strange experiences he would no doubt witness before his time in Rosewood ended.

* * *

Mike was only slightly upset that Toby denied him the chance for a little fun before the festival started. He would have preferred working out some tension before being thrown into a huge crowd of people, but the image of making out with his boyfriend at the apex of the Ferris Wheel against a backdrop of fireworks allowed him to relieve some tension on his own before they met up.

"Wear something sexy," was what Toby had told him. He scanned the contents of his closet, wondering how on Earth he had managed to accumulate the drabbest wardrobe imaginable. In the end, he chose a pair of skinny jeans that he may have nabbed from Aria's closet (he wasn't entirely joking about pulling out his sister's clothes), and a baseball tee that he outgrew a year and a half ago. It clung to his chest in a flattering way, and when he reached up, the hem of the shirt rode a couple inches over the top of his pants, revealing a tease of tanned flesh.

"Well, it's better than nothing," he said to his reflection.

The door opened and Aria leaned against the door frame.

"Ever heard of knocking?" he asked, wanting her to just walk away.

"Ever heard of not eavesdropping on people having an obviously private conversation?"

"Usually private conversations are kept quiet." She had called him out on it, and there was no point in denying it. "I don't know if it's actually considered eavesdropping if I could hear the entire conversation from the hallway. What's going on with Mr. Fitz, anyway?"

"Nothing that concerns you. He was just asking me for some… advice." Her face warped into that mask she donned whenever she kept a secret for someone else.

"So I didn't hear you mention my name, and maybe Toby?" He smirked, knowing he had her on the ropes, but wondering how far he should take this. If he pushed her too far he may never find out what she was up to, but he didn't want to let her go now without something.

She strode forcefully into the room, shoving her finger in her brother's face. "Listen, you heard nothing, OK? Please, for me, drop this one. Ezra just needed some guidance on a personal issue that has nothing to do with you."

"Fine, fine," Mike begged off. "But I know you are terrible at keeping secrets, so I'll figure this out eventually."

"Well, thanks, I guess. Just leave him alone." Aria turned to leave, then put another jab in. "And you look ridiculous in those clothes. It's this new thing called wearing appropriate sizes."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to see you at the festival with your boyfriend." He couldn't resist, knowing the implied insult of her being single would cut a lot deeper than she would be willing to let on. They were siblings after all, and if he wasn't allowed at least a few jibes here and there, what was the purpose of family?

She stormed out of the room. The air was electric with her simmering fury, but that did little to faze his mood. He was determined to have an excellent night, and he hoped that Toby telling him to wait meant something even more amazing was awaiting him afterwards.

He fussed with his hair in the mirror on the back of his door. The phone sitting on the dresser began to ring, and he didn't bother to check who was calling, assuming it would be Toby. He must be calling to tell him where to meet up with him once the festival started.

"Hey babe."

"Hey there Mikey…" came the voice on the other end. No portion of it resembled Toby in any way possible. It sounded like…

"Noel?" Mike asked in a hush whisper, clutching the phone to his ear, hoping Aria had wandered far enough away to not hear him. "Noel, why are you calling me right now? Are you high?"

"Just had a few little pills, Mikey. I can't wait to see you at the festival. I was hoping we might get a little time in the funhouse, if you know what I mean." He sounded really fucked up, and Mike wasn't sure how to handle him when he acted this way.

"You know I'm going to the festival with Toby. My boyfriend," Mike said, maybe a tad too harshly, into the phone. "I really don't want to run into you, like this, there. Listen to me. Drink a coffee, take a nap, do whatever you need to, but please do not show up there acting like this. I don't think I can take it."

"Oh, I will see you there," he said. It sounded like a warning.

"Noel, I can end this arrangement that we have whenever I want. Do you not realize this?"

"Really? What do you think I could do to you and Toby if I felt like it." His voice waivered again, worse this time.

"You wouldn't do that."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because you know that if you even tried to ruin what Toby and I have, I would never speak to you again. Not to mention what holy hell I would rain on your reputation. Mutually assured destruction, do you hear me?"

Noel, clearly unhappy, hung up his end of the phone. Mike was a more than irritated. He knew that Noel was into some shady business, but that still didn't mean he could make these sorts of threats towards him.

Hopefully they would run into each other tonight. Mike kind of wanted to flaunt Toby in front of him now. He wondered briefly if maybe he should go through Aria's closet then thought better of it. He didn't want her to have another excuse to lay into him. Thank God she didn't notice the pants he wore. He wanted to just forget Noel for one night and spend a wonderful time at the festival.


	4. Chapter 4: Line and Sinker

**Chapter Four: Line and Sinker**

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for taking an interest in my story! After this chapter things are really going to pick up in that insane PLL way, and I'll be introducing the villain(s)! Also, drop a review. I really would like to know what I'm doing right, and what I could improve on. What storylines are you really into? Which ones need a pick me up?

The festival was in full swing when Noel arrived at eighty-thirty. The crowd moved in a tightly controlled chaos, and he saw the faces of the people he'd grown up with. His brother was hanging out by the arcade lane, trying to flirt with Melissa Hastings and CeCe Drake, neither of which seemed particularly into him. Hannah, Aria, Spencer, and Emily huddled around their cell phones, whispering conspiratorially. The local circus company navigated the crowd, some on stilts, others juggling expertly, even while bumping elbows with the passers-by.

He continued to scan the crowd, keeping one eye out for Mike and one out for Jenna. Jenna was drawn to drama like a moth to the flame, and when this many people gathered together drama was inescapable. He hadn't heard from his girlfriend for a couple days, and figured she must be plotting something.

Fingering the bag in his front pocket, he wondered if he should take another. Mike's warnings bounced around the back of his mind but he paid them no attention. He found the nearest Porta-Potty and ducked inside. He had to admit, he wasn't entirely sure what it was he took. The first time he approached Wesley, all he was asked was, "Uppers or Downers?"

Stepping outside of the stall, he saw the focus of the festival had shifted further down towards the rides. Several people remained at this end still, and he saw Mr. Fitz hovering near the entrance. Who could he be waiting for? Hopefully not Aria, he thought, we've all seen how that course plays out.

He thought he saw a rustle of movement behind the House of Mirrors, but decided against investigating it. Too many people in this town succumbed to strange accidents because of blind curiosity, and he didn't want to add to the statistic. With still no sign of Mike or Toby, he made his way further into the fairgrounds.

* * *

Wren had told Ezra to go ahead without him. He wasn't sure why Ezra had been so intent on going to the festival tonight, considering his constant state of worry about them. Ezra had allowed Wren to sleep well into the afternoon, had vacated his own apartment to him, so Wren felt he owed him a little. Besides, something had appeared off about Ezra. When he asked if it had anything to do with his lunch with Wesley, the only response he got was, "No, that's not it."

He started the shower as Ezra collected his things and headed out. The steam built up in the bathroom and he tried to clear his mind while he scrubbed his body down. Except for the weird air about Ezra, he was perfectly fine, even sweeter than normal.

As he shut off the shower, he thought he smelled something off in the breeze that kicked up when he pulled back the curtain and stepped out onto the tiled floor. It was feminine, like a perfume, which didn't make any sense. They both had cologne, of course, but nothing that had a flowery aroma about it. The scent stirred some memory at the edge of his consciousness, but struggle as he might, it continued to elude him.

Shaking it off, he moved to the counter and began to get ready.

Selecting his clothes with care, he went out to find something quick to eat before meeting up with Ezra. The same aroma struck him as he entered the main room of the apartment, and froze him in his tracks. The memory cleared a little bit, but still remained shrouded in fog. He thought he recalled something once said. "_Forever…_"

"What is going on today?" He asked aloud. All he wanted was to relax, and have a great night out with his boyfriend, even if no one knew they were together.

Suddenly he was worried, almost certain, that Wesley would be at the festival. If he made an appearance, he knew that Ezra would push him instantly to the sidelines, and the night would be ruined.

He was about to head out when something caught his eye. Normally, an off-white envelope placed on the counter by the coffee machine in an apartment would not cause any sort of discord, but Ezra kept the place meticulously clean. There was literally a spot for everything – postcards from his friends from school, in-going and out-going bills, thank you and holiday cards; he tucked them all away in a shelving unit beside his desk.

His name was stenciled in jerky letters across the front. Was this letter here when Ezra left? Wren thought. Did he maybe leave it for me?

But if he had, he would have just written his name in his own hand writing, not this blocky style, and he probably would have at least mentioned it so Wren would be sure to catch it before he left.

His fingers trembled as they traced the outline of the envelope. There was a weird vibe that came from it, and he did not understand why. It wasn't sealed, the outer flap was just tucked inside. Hidden beneath the folds was a pale lavender stationary sheet. In an elegant script that ignored the ledger lines were the simple words, "For all that you've done. You're welcome."

"What the hell?"

For a moment he thought it had to have been from Ezra, but it was too vague. Ezra would have been more romantic. He wracked his brain trying to think of who would try to send him a message as coded as this, and why, and came up empty.

It appeared that there was nothing more to the note, but when he set it face down on the counter he noticed a large, stylized N taking up most of the room on the backside. He turned towards the door as he reached for his cell phone, and noticed the deadbolt was undone. That was not a typical Ezra move – every other time Wren had been in the shower he'd always made sure to lock up as he went out.

A fear crept into him then, a tidal wave of emotion surging him to the couch, where he collapsed. His phone, momentarily forgotten in his pocket. "Did something happen?" His mind went immediately to Wesley. Had he really had the nerve to go to his mother? Was that what the note referred to? At this very moment, was his entire life crash down around him, swept away in a riptide that was well beyond his control?

His breath heaved as he struggled to find even ground. Now he didn't want to go out into the world, wasn't sure if he could face it or not. He sat on the couch, defeated, and reached again for his cell.

* * *

Mike arrived late to the festival. Toby had sent him a text asking him to meet by the ski-ball lanes. As he passed under the entrance arch he was amazed at how well put together the place had come since the skeletal frame it was that afternoon. The flashing lights blocked out the stars and created a glowing halo that hovered over the vast field. Mike Montgomery wasn't one to be easily taken in by these sorts of things, but the atmosphere that engulfed him brought a sense of comfort bubbling up.

Making his way down the main stretch, he saw the funhouse and remembered Noel's invitation. The dude was an ass, and when he got high off those pills he took he was also a wild card. He swung wide of that particular attraction to stay on the safe side. Tonight was about him and Toby.

After his conversation with Noel, he really tried to re-examine their arrangement. There was no other reason to keep seeing Noel behind Toby's back other than he was super hot and ridiculous in bed. That may seem shallow, but Mike was only sixteen, and he knew that his hormones drove his desire more than either his brain or heart. Maybe, he thought, maybe after the fireworks I can get him to perform some of Noel's better tricks. Then I can eliminate him once and for all.

That didn't seem likely, but he was in a near dream state as the festivities surrounded him. For now, he was open to the possibility that something incredible could come from all of this. As long as he could avoid Noel, tonight was going to be whatever he wanted it to be.

"There you are!" Toby called when he rounded the corner to the arcade. "I've missed you," he said, pulling Mike in for a tight hug.

Toby smelled like sweat covering a thin layer of soap. It was familiar, and beautiful. "Sorry it took me a minute to get here. I had trouble deciding what to wear."

Toby held him at arms' length and appraised his choice in outfit. "Well, you're looking perfect, as usual."

Mike's phone buzzed in his pocket. Not now, he thought. He looked around, trying to spot Noel in the crowd, and failed. "Thanks," he replied, and pulled Toby towards him for a long kiss. Take that, Noel.

They walked along the way, taking in the sights and sounds around them. After a few minutes, Toby pulled the macho card and went up to a booth to win Mike an over-sized teddy bear. Mike took the opportunity to check the message that was sent to his phone. When he unlocked the screen and opened his unread messages, he was surprised that it was not Noel's number, but one that was blocked. When he opened the message, all it said was, "You owe me one. N."

He puzzled over the text, trying to figure out what it could possibly have been talking about. The N sign off confused him also. Was it Noel? God, that guy could be a massive creep sometimes, he thought. At the end, he chose to ignore it. He was here, with his boyfriend, and he was dead set on having a fantastic time.

Toby walked back over to him, half hidden behind a giant stuffed rabbit. "They were out of the bears," he said, tossing it to Mike.

* * *

Wesley wandered aimlessly around the fairgrounds, thinking about the note he had received earlier that day. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he double-checked the message. "Hey lover, meet me at the festival tonight. 10 sharp. I want you beneath the fireworks." It came from a blocked number, but he assumed it had to be from Janette, the hot TA from his summer art history course. She had been giving him lingering looks for the past six weeks, and he knew she lived near Rosewood.

So far he hadn't been able to locate her, but that might be part of the game. Maybe she was setting up a surprise for him. He pictured her in lace lingerie.

As the clock neared ten, and the crowd started making their way towards the back of the fairgrounds to enjoy the show, he began to accept the possibility that this might be some kind of elaborate, humorless prank. Then, up ahead, he saw a tall, brunette woman wearing a long overcoat. She was wearing one of those clear masks with the cheeks, lips, and eyes colored in, so he couldn't make out her individual features, but he knew that she was the one who sent the text when she pulled open the bottom portion of her coat to reveal a slender, naked leg. Raising her hand, she motioned him to her before turning around and disappearing between a couple booths.

He ducked behind the main row of booths and followed suit. She was always one turn away from being out of sight and moved swiftly, forcing him to stumble over wires and debris as he tried to catch up.

Rounding a corner, he saw she had come to a stop in the shadows behind the funhouse. A blast overhead signaled the beginning of the firework show and upped the contrast of shadows around the mystery woman. She beckoned to him again before vanishing in a black pool.

"And who might you be?" he asked as he neared her.

She shook her head, as if to say, "Oh no, it's not going to be that easy." Her hair tossed with each shake, as if inviting him to grab a handful and pull her to him.

"This is an interesting little game," he said, stepping within arm's reach. "I could do without that mask though."

She held one finger to the lips of the mask and laid her other arm over his shoulder. He felt the fingers on the hand behind his head wiggle, and had an instant to wonder what she was doing when his world went black.

* * *

Toby went to the restroom just before the fireworks went off, leaving Mike to watch the stragglers. He eyed the Ferris Wheel, thankful that the rides were still open for the fireworks. He couldn't wait to see the view from the top.

Someone grabbed him from behind. Dropping his stuffed animal, Mike spun to find himself face to face with Noel. "There you are!" He shouted in a high, strained voice. "I've been looking for you." This put Mike into a panic, his eyes darting to the restrooms.

"Noel, now is not the time."

"You scared Toby'll see us? Don't worry about that babe, I sent him over to the Ferris Wheel to wait for you."

"You do realize we are in public right now? What about your reputation?"

Noel took a bag from his pocket and showed Mike the pills inside. "Somehow I'm not concerned tonight. Want one?"

"No, I don't. I want to go back to Toby."

The fireworks started overhead. The flashes of light played over Noel's cheekbones, and Mike thought he never looked better.

Noel pulled Mike close and ran his hands down his back, resting them on Mike's ass. His breath smelled faintly of beer, and the mixture of that with his cologne, the placement of his hands and the shamelessness of being in public, Mike found himself incredibly turned on. "Come on," Noel whispered in his ear. "The fireworks are going to last almost an hour. Plenty of time for a little action before you go back to your boyfriend."

Mike wanted to tell him no, to resist him this once. He wanted to reject Noel and go back to enjoying his perfect night with Toby, but there was something about Noel that he could not bring him to deny. He softened in Noel's embrace.

The older boy grinned, knowing he'd won this round. Leading Mike in the opposite direction from the Ferris Wheel, he took him to the side of the funhouse. Pressing him against the building, they began kissing. When Noel's hand wandered down to the top of Mike's jeans, he stopped him, saying, "Not here, let's go around back."

"Isn't it hotter when we might get caught?"

"Not when the catching might be done by Toby," Mike said, pulling away and taking Noel's hand to guide him around back.

What they saw when they flew around the corner confused them both. In between bolts of light from the fireworks they glimpsed someone lying face down in the dirt. Something about the way the body was positioned wasn't right, almost as if it was a store front mannequin that had been disassembled.

"Hey guy," Noel called out tentatively.

Mike walked over and knelt beside him. He was about to reach out when he saw the blood covering the ground. "Noel," he said, turning back to him.

"Is… is he…?" Noel asked, and started shaking. He grabbed his stomach and convulsed, vomiting on the side of the funhouse. "Oh God," he said. "I don't feel so good."

Mike looked back at the body on the ground, and realized the reason why the limbs looked strange, elongated, was because they had been disconnected from the body. The blood made a bridge between the severed pieces of flesh.

Behind him, he heard Noel hit the ground. He jerked against the dirt, and his eyes rolled up in his head. "Noel!" Mike yelled, rushing to his side. "Noel, you idiot," he whispered tersely.

Jumping to his feet, he was already reaching for his cell phone to dial 911 and screaming, "Help! Help me!" but his called were lost to the thunder of the fireworks.


	5. Chapter 5: Walking With a Ghost

**Chapter Five: Walking With a Ghost**

A/N: Sorry for the delay with this chapter. When I started writing this I was on my vacation from work, and now I'm in the process of being promoted to full time so I've had a lot of training (and yes, admittedly napping when I get home), so I haven't had too much free time. After next week I should be all settled in and get back into some kind of routine! Now, back to the drama! And this chapter is a little shorter than the average, but longer ones are on the horizon!

Smoke from the fireworks hovered over the fairgrounds, cut through with flashing blue and red lights. People milled about, confused and mainly unaware of what exactly had happened to cause such a stir at a small town festival. Two ambulances were parked in the center of the main drag, surrounded by a scattering of police cars, and the coroner's van. The local news had caught on almost immediately and lingered on the sidelines, desperate to be the first station to catch the big story.

Mike Montgomery sat on the hood of a police car with his parents flanking him. He watched as Noel was loaded onto a stretcher and placed inside an ambulance. At least that story was a cut and dry overdose, with little to explain given his history. What the cops asked about was the body that was found mutilated behind the funhouse.

"And you were with Mr. Kahn when you found the body?" The police officer asked, and Mike thought to himself, Is this real? Am I really being asked about a dead body?

"Yeah," Mike said, feeling like he was in a dream world. Nothing seemed quite solid. He saw Aria standing with her friends, all their faces solemn masks. Toby stood a few paces away from them, but Mike couldn't read his expression. There was a dark cloud behind his eyes.

The cop was asking him another question. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

"Were you taking the same pills your buddy Noel was?"

"No, of course not."

"Then what were the two of you doing behind the funhouse if you weren't looking for a place to take the drugs?"

Mike glanced nervously at his parents. He noticed Toby had moved close enough to hear their exchange. "We were just, you know, looking around." The lie fell flat between everyone in their little huddle.

"Listen," Ella said, stepping forward to his rescue, "I think he's answered enough of your questions for now. If you need anything else from Mike, we can bring him down to the station in the morning. Right now he just needs some rest."

The cop flipped his notepad shut. "Okay, if we think of any other questions for you, we'll contact you in the morning."

Mike's parents led him away, and he gave an apologetic look to Toby as he passed.

A few yards away Ezra was barely keeping himself together. He stood by the coroner's van, holding his brother's wallet, staring in disbelief at the driver's license. Two paramedics wheeled a stretcher towards the van, topped with a lumpy, black bag that contained his brother's remains. He didn't want to watch them clumsily load it into the vacant back of the van but found he couldn't pull his eyes away.

The police were asking him dozens of questions that he didn't know the answers to. The most puzzling of these was the series of questions relating to the bag of pills they found, half hanging out of one of his pockets, the quantity suggesting that it was for distribution instead of personal use. Never had Wesley given Ezra any cause to think that he was into something as dangerous as this. There had been no indicators of anything amiss in his brother's life.

He looked up through bleary eyes and saw Wren standing at the edge of the yellow tape. When the police sirens cut through the noise of the fireworks and he noticed Mike running, screaming, down the fairway, his first instinct was to text Wren. From his worried eyes to the confused way his mouth hung slightly open, Ezra knew no one had yet told him who was being carted off in a body bag.

The police let him go, letting him know that the morgue would be in contact with his family soon to begin the funeral arrangements. He realized his mother hadn't been called yet.

Walking toward Wren, he ducked under the yellow tape and bumped into Toby.

"Sorry," they both said at the same time. Toby turned away from the scene playing out and tried to clear his head. He replayed the minutes leading up to the chaos. When he emerged from the restrooms he ran into that creep Noel Kahn, who told him Mike was waiting for him by the Ferris Wheel. He remembered thinking Noel was a strange messenger, but shook it off. Noel and Mike had known each other for a long time, and while Noel was an arrogant prick most of the time, there hadn't been any animosity between the two.

At the Ferris Wheel Mike was nowhere to be found, and then he shows up with an overdosing Noel and a dead body. What happened in those missing minutes? He didn't want to think that Mike was getting drugs from him, and it was worse thinking Mike was selling the drugs. There was another possibility, but Toby couldn't bring himself to give that thought actual form in his mind. He and Mike were happy together, and that was that, as far as he was concerned.

Emily broke away from her clique and made her way over to him. "Toby? Are you okay?" she asked, crossing her arms in concern.

"I don't know what I am," he answered truthfully. "This is all just insane."

"Tell me about it. I know Aria is freaking out. Do they know who died?"

"I haven't heard anything officially," Toby said, watching Ezra walk away with Wren. To him, they looked like they were a little more than friendly, but this was a time of crisis. He hadn't known them to ever hang out, but then again, what did he really know about anyone in this town? "But Ezra was talking to the cops and the coroner."

"Oh, no!" Emily said, following his gaze. "Do you think it could have been Wesley?"

"Who's Wesley?"

"Ezra's brother. The girls and I met him last year."

"Huh," Toby replied, at a loss for words.

"What about Mike? Is he doing okay?"

He guessed he should have expected the question eventually, but it still caught him off guard. "I don't know, I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet." Not being able to stand the look of pity he received, he decided to change the subject, albeit slightly. "Say, do you know anything about what's going on with Noel?"

"No," she said. "I mean, he's always been kind of weird, but I did not peg him for a pill head."

Toby lowered his voice. "Don't tell anyone I asked you this, but have you or Aria ever seen him and Mike hanging around before? I didn't think they were anything other than acquaintances, really, so I don't know what they would be doing back there together." He gestured towards the funhouse.

"I haven't heard anything from Aria, and I haven't seen anything myself," Emily assured him. "I swear, if I'd seen anything weird I would have told you."

"Thanks, Emily," he said, and meant it.

"No problem."

She began to move back towards the others when Toby grabbed her by the upper arm. "Emily, do you think there's any possibility that A is involved in any of this?"

"What makes you think that?"

"It's just that, whenever these things happen, it always seems that all roads lead back to A, Allison, and you guys. I'm not accusing you of anything, of course, it's just that if something bigger is happening here, I think I deserve to know about it."

Emily furrowed her brow. "As far as I know, none of us have had any contact with A recently. Usually she leaves her calling card before the bomb goes off."

"Okay, thanks," Toby said, letting her go. As she walked back to her friends, he was tempted to extract his phone and give Mike a call. Knowing his parents, though, they are probably holding onto his phone until tomorrow, at least. The best bet would be waiting for Mike to reach out to him, and maybe then he'd be able to get some answers. He just hoped the answers worked to level out some of the crazy from tonight, instead of instigating a whole new round of questions.

He knew that he probably would not be able to go home tonight, at least not yet. There was too much rattling around his brain, and he wouldn't find any more answers here than he already had. As he went out into the parking lot he saw Mr. Fitz being comforted by Wren behind some cars. That seems odd, he thought, and continued on his way, more confused than ever.


	6. Chapter 6: Strangeland

**Chapter Six: Strangeland**

The next thirty-six hours were unclear to Noel. The things he knew: he was in a hospital bed, tethered to an IV drip and bound by wires to a couple surrounding machines; the reason he ended up here was due to the fact that he took a few too many pills from Wesley and had an overdose; that Wesley was dead; and his secret about Mike might have been compromised. The things that he was a little foggy on were what was happening around him while he went in and out of consciousness, especially the people.

His parents and Jenna were frequently at his side when he awoke, which was to be expected. He thought he could remember once waking up to a very nervous looking Mike, but when he opened his mouth to ask for water, Mike had stood up and quickly exited the room. Members of the football and lacrosse teams had made an appearance, though not as many as he would have liked. Then there was the night he stirred, sensing someone in the room.

From the pools of darkness in the corner beside the window, he saw the outline of an arm reach up. Still hazy from sleep, when the hand entered the moonlight he couldn't make out whether it belonged to a man or woman, but his attention was drawn to the object held in the open palm. It was something small, made from either glass or crystal, and seemed very familiar to him, although at first it was hard to place.

The object was so common his mind raced circles around his before his vision cleared enough to see it for what it really was: a pawn piece from a chess board. Though a common enough image, this particular piece looked very well crafted, expensive even.

The hand hovered in the rays of moonlight, unwavering, and for some unknown reason it chilled Noel to the core. Light glistened off the surface of the pawn, and he felt something dark within him curl a little bit tighter.

"Who's there?" he could remember asking, but didn't know if he ever got a response. A wave of nausea swept over him and the darkness moved to the edge of his vision as he slipped back to sleep.

The next morning he woke to Jenna.

"They said you'll be able to leave today," she said in a voice just above a whisper. "How are you feeling?"

Dating Jenna, Noel had begun to understand how she talked. There was always a second meaning beneath her words, and they had been together long enough for him to guess the general direction. "What do you want to know, Jenna?"

She scooted her chair closer to him. "There are just so many questions. Where should I begin? That you told me you weren't going to 'some lame ass festival', after I asked you to take me? How could you be so stupid to overdose?"

Noel opened his mouth to speak but she stopped him. "Or maybe, just maybe," she said, leaning closer and whispering in his ear, "what were you doing with Mike Montgomery behind the funhouse?"

Noel's eyes widened. Jenna was quick, but he hadn't guessed she was that quick. "Jenna…"

"Come on, Noel. I've known about it for weeks now. You really can't keep a secret very well. Don't worry though," she said when she saw the fear creeping into his eyes, "I can."

"So you're not going to tell anyone?"

"I can keep it to myself. After what Aria and company did to my reputation, I need someone like you to help get me back on track, like I was before that little prank in my garage. So if I were to tell anyone about your… affair, that would be mutually assured destruction, don't you think? The last thing I want right now is to go down at Rosewood High as being Noel Kahn's beard." She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms, offering him a little smirk. "Just make sure you don't fuck up like that again. People are already whispering."

"What are they saying?"

"Nothing much, really. But that seed has been planted. I've done my best to damage control, and it looks like things will get back to normal, as long as you keep your mouth shut." Jenna stood up from the chair and turned towards the door. "Also, you might want to think about staying away from Montgomery. That family is poison."

Noel had no response to this. After days of blurred nothingness, this was way too much information bombarding him.

She started walking towards the door and looked back. Her eyes landed on his bedside table, taking in the cards, brought by friends, and the flowers his parents had dropped off. "That's interesting," she said, before exiting the room.

Confused, Noel examined the table. Everything was familiar to him, and he didn't know what Jenna's comment was about. Shuffling in his bed about to get a little more rest before he headed back to the real world as he knew his parents were going to freak out on him about the pills once they knew he was alright, when he saw the light glint off something on the table.

Sitting almost concealed next to the vase of flowers sat the same pawn he had seen the night before. Once again fear gripped him, but he pushed through it and reached over, sliding the vase out of his way. The pawn had been turned on its side, and something about the positioning lead him to believe it had been placed like that purposefully, although he could not say why. When the vase moved out of view, he could see that someone had written in a green marker the letter W on the bottom of the piece.

Somewhere in the periphery of his mind, he thought he should be able to understand the message. He just couldn't make all the pieces fit together. Wesley was a pawn that had been taken off the board, that had to be what the piece was telling him. What he didn't understand concerned the board and the players.

Knowing that he won't be able to find any answers, at least until he got out of the hospital, and also that he wasn't going to be able to get any sleep now, he searched the surrounding area for his cell phone. When he came up with nothing he realized that his parents must have taken it, and there was little chance he'd be seeing it anytime soon. Another surge of panic arose in him when he thought of his parent's going through his phone, which they must have done by now. On top of everything else, he didn't want to have that conversation with them too.

Groaning, he reached for the TV remote. Maybe a couple hours of mind-numbing reality programming will help calm him down.

* * *

Ezra was sitting at the table when Wren came in the door from work. "Oh," he said, gently shutting the door behind him, "I thought you'd have left for work by now." Ezra had told him he'd gotten the job, but it was teaching a few night classes in the city. "Aren't you going to be late?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ezra said, not exactly dismissing him. There was a distracted tone to his voice that made Wren uneasy.

"Is something wrong?"

"The police just called. They said they had been withholding some information but decided they are going to go public with it tomorrow, and wanted me to be aware of it." Ezra reached for his cup of coffee, then dropped it to the table a few inches short.

Wren pulled out the chair next to him and leaned in. "What information?"

"They said that they found…" Ezra paused, not knowing why such a simple sentence could be so hard to say. "They found some pills on him."

Wren's heart wrenched. He knew it was going to come up eventually, but he had hoped that for once Wesley would have been smart about his hobby and left his shit at home that night. If the police somehow found out where those drugs had come from, he would not only lose his job, he'd lose his boyfriend. He thought back to that night, and the letter he had received. Did that mean that someone knew he had been Wesley's supplier? Is that what the note was referring to, that whoever wrote it killed Wesley for him?

"Wren, are you OK? You look like you're taking this harder than I am." Ezra looked at him with genuine concern in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm just shocked," Wren said, trying his best to recover.

"There's a little bit more," Ezra said. "They said that there was a…. how did they put it? A 'generous quantity', and they believed he was distributing. A tox screen showed he had been taking them as well, but they don't think what he had on him was a personal stash."

"That's," Wren searched for the right word for this particular situation and came up with, "tragic. I can't imagine what you're going through right now."

"What I can't understand," Ezra said, nearly cutting Wren off, "is where would he have gotten them? We grew up together, and not only have I never touched any of that junk, I couldn't begin to think of where to even find it. Especially in bulk."

Not quite knowing what words Ezra wanted to hear next, "He was in university, and those types of things tend to be easier to find in that environment."

Ezra had started to cry, and wiped clumsily at the tears. "I knew we were different, I just could never imagine how much."

"Everyone has their secrets," Wren said, pulling his boyfriend into a hug. "Some are just darker than others."

Ezra pulled away, still swatting at his face. "I really need to get ready for work." He grabbed some clothes scattered around the room and headed into the bathroom. Ever since he got this new job he had taken to preparing in the bathroom, for reasons totally unknown to Wren. Before, when he'd go out, he's just get ready in front of Wren, and occasionally they'd play a little game before they headed to town for the night. Even when he needed to brush his teeth or put on a little more deodorant, he'd still leave the door open and give Wren a little show, which Ezra thought was way sexier than the reality.

He couldn't figure out what the secrecy was all about. It wasn't like he was donning a Spiderman costume beneath his shirt and tie so he could miraculously save people in the city. Wren wanted to think that if Ezra had a secret identity, he would share it with him. Of course, Wren had plenty to hide on his own, and knew he wouldn't push his boyfriend on that level.

Ezra emerged from the bathroom and Wren was taken aback, yet again, but how dashing he looked in his teacher clothes. They had had a talk about Aria, of course, and Wren found he held no blame for her actions. Who could have resisted that?

"I'll probably be back late."

"No worries. Why do they make you hold office hours after the class has ended again?"

"The job is teaching mainly middle-aged, blue collar adults who want to further their careers. Late at night is usually the only time they have available, and they really do want help. It may not be as exciting as teaching a younger crowd, but I feel like I'm definitely helping these students achieve their goals." Ezra gave Wren a quick kiss and reached for his keys. "I'll see you tomorrow, OK?"

"I guess I can settle for that," Wren said, managing a smile. He knew that he was in for a restless night at best. No matter what happened in the next couple days, he had to keep his secret. Add to that, someone knew what he had been up to, and obviously wanted to be vocal about it. He had a lot of questions, and no one to ask them to.

* * *

Ezra cried most of the way into the city. Once he arrived, he kept driving and came out on the far side. A few winding back roads, and he arrived at his destination. The building was worn down, a victim of time and a line of poor managers. He sat in his car for a couple minutes, knowing he was already late for his shift and the boss was going to be on him the second he walked through the door. Staring at the sign, he couldn't quite believe that this is where he had ended up in life. Mid-twenties, and working here. Five years ago he would have laughed at the suggestion.

As he emerged from the car the neon sign flickered, threatened as it usually did to go out, then sputter back to life, illuminating the growing shadows of the evening. Soon it would be full dark and the building would fill up with dozens of people, all there for exactly one reason.

He walked around to the side door and pulled it open. Instantly the smell of stale cigarettes and the sound of too loud techno music hit him in a wave. Two steps in the door his boss, Sergio, grabbed hold of his arm and said, "You're late. It's your third day and you're late!"

"I'm sorry!" Ezra said, yanking his arm away. "I told you about my situation."

"I feel bad for you and all, but this is a business. And why do you always show up dressed like a teacher?" He said, taking a step back and scoffing at his outfit.

"My boyfriend can't know about this. I have the right uniform on beneath my clothes." Ezra said, heading down the hall towards the back area.

"You're on in five minutes!" Sergio called after him.

Sleazy asshole, Ezra thought as he headed to the back room. If I didn't need the money so badly, I'd be out of here.

He went into the back room, which was approximately the size of a small walk in closet. Within the room were a wardrobe rack and a full sized mirror, with several light bulbs positioned strategically around it.

Loosening his tie and unbuttoning his shirt, he couldn't help but think about what Wren would think of him if he found out about this. He found a couple empty hangers on the rack and put up his clothes, noticing most of the discarded apparel surrounding him on the floor. The other guys are so disgusting, he thought.

Pulling down his pants, he took a look in the mirror. Wearing only a black thong, he knew he looked hot. He just didn't approve of the situation. For a moment, he allowed himself a fantasy of wearing this for Wren, giving him a little tease, and dragging him into bed. These thoughts were what kept him afloat here. Maybe one day he'd be able to share this new found gift with his boyfriend, but that's in the future. With everything going on since Wesley was found, the future has been murky at best.

He was going to have to lose himself tonight if he wanted to make any money. No one wanted to go to a strip club and see the dancer crying on stage.

A/N: Sorry this took so long! LIFE! And Youtube! But anyway, thanks for all the story views, it's exciting that I can go almost two weeks without posting and still maintain fairly consistent views! And I think with the finale of PLL tonight, I'm going to need to get full force into this from sheer force of withdrawal. Thanks for keeping with me on this, and please leave a review! What do you think about this chapter? Surprised?


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